Plague recently has been found in two campgrounds at Yosemite National Park, including one where a child who contracted the potentially deadly disease had camped.

The Crane Flats Campground, where the unidentified child had stayed in mid-July, was treated for disease-carrying fleas earlier this week. Next week the Tuolumne Meadows Camground will be treated by having rodent burrows sprayed to kill fleas.

"Although the presence of plague has been confirmed at Crane Flat and Tuolumne Meadows campgrounds, the risk to human health remains low," read a park release posted Friday on Yosemtie's website. "Action to protect human and wildlife health by closing and treating campgrounds is being taken out of an abundance of caution."

Plague is an infectious bacterial disease that is carried by squirrels, chipmunks and other wild rodents and their fleas, the park release noted. "When an infected rodent becomes sick and dies, its fleas can carry the infection to other warm-blooded animals including humans."

“Although this is a rare disease, and the current risk to humans is low, eliminating the fleas is the best way to protect the public from the disease,” said Dr. Karen Smith, director of California's Department of Public Health. “By eliminating the fleas, we reduce the risk of human exposure and break the cycle of plague in rodents at the sites. People can protect themselves from infection by avoiding any contact with wild rodents."

The state Department of Public Health surveyed Yosemite and the nearby Stanislaus National Forest for plague after the child came down with the disease. The youth was hospitalized for treatment and is recovering, according to officials.

Prior to this incidence, the last known human case of the disease in California was in 2006, according to the department, which added, "Since 1970, 42 human cases of plague have been confirmed in California, of which nine were fatal."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

Humans usually get plague after being bitten by a rodent flea that is carrying the plague bacterium or by handling an animal infected with plague. Plague is infamous for killing millions of people in Europe during the Middle Ages. Today, modern antibiotics are effective in treating plague. Without prompt treatment, the disease can cause serious illness or death. Presently, human plague infections continue to occur in the western United States, but significantly more cases occur in parts of Africa and Asia.